Every everyone Joey meets falls in love with him right away because he is so unique. The 5-year-old pit bull mix shouldn’t have had to spend more than 500 days at a shelter, but that is exactly what happened—and it was entirely out of his control.
The adorable dog rapidly won over the entire crew, so when Joey’s forever family showed up to whisk him away to the life of his dreams, they knew they had to send him farewell in the grandest manner imaginable.
“The staff always wanted to make sure the shelter dogs knew how loved they were, so a special send-off was started by us so the dogs knew how much they meant to us and to make them feel happy about going to their new home,” Kimberly LaRussa, Sweet Buffalo to the Rescue founder, told The Dodo.
When it came to one of their longest residents, the goodbye party needed to be extra special.
“We wanted to give Joey a relaxing and calm send-off, so we thought we could put some leis on him as a sign of friendship and give him treats,” LaRussa said. “It was really beautiful to see him with all the leis he accumulated towards the end of the send-off.”
When Joey arrived at the shelter as a former stray, no one expected the sweet dog to still be there over a year later. But he was overlooked with no potential adoption interest, and the endless wait eventually got to Joey.
“[He] adjusted the best he could,” LaRussa said. “He was very much loved by the former staff and volunteers. But as time went on, we could tell he longed for something more than we could give him … a nice warm bed, cuddles at night, his own people to love him.”
LaRussa made the decision to take matters into her own hands after observing the dejected puppy whimpering and acting helpless in his cage. She quickly recorded a video of Joey and shared it on social media. Interest erupted all at once. However, Daryl Koczaja and Melissa Leuer stood out as the winning couple.
Someone needs to assist this poor baby, I remember thinking to myself as I kept sobbing and replaying his recordings, Leuer recalled. Little did I realize that it would be us.
At the meet and greet that LaRussa arranged for Joey and the prospective adopters, a bond was made right away.
Though Joey took a few days to warm up to his new life, he’s now the biggest snugglebug, who greets them with a smile every day.
“Joey is still just as wonderful as the day we adopted him,” Leuer said. “[He’s] brought so much laughter and happiness into our house. We look forward to making many more memories with him and giving him the perfect life he has always deserved. We truly couldn’t ask for a better dog!”
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